Match Report: Spartans Overpower City In The End

Southampton Spartans vs Oxford City - 15.02.16

17-21 Loss

The game was intense. We all worked hard and created great opportunities for goals while defending fiercely. Ruth started and finished the scoring as part of her classic three goals.

Becca pressured her player and won the ball for us numerous times.

Nick and Andy Nye used the whole pitch and multiple subbings to chase each other across both divisions. They both showed off some beautiful scoring moves and perfect penalties.

James scored the first of his hat trick just moments after being subbed on. Dan defended and intercepted brilliantly. Gaz kept his player engaged and off the post.

At half-time we had a narrow lead but in the second half Southampton put more pressure on. Close to the end we were at 16 - 16 but Southampton were determinedly scoring and pulled three away. 

Finally we tried five minutes of shooting madness, which was great fun but we actually ended up conceding one more and finished losing by four. So we lost but we are not defeated. The team work and individual performances were excellent. We should be proud of how we played against top class opposition. Let's carry this spirit on into our next match!

MVP - Becca Brennan

Scorers - Nick (5), Ruth (3), James (3), Dave (2), Becca, Dan, Amy, Jo 

Match Report: City Maintains Charge With Bulls Victory

Oxford City vs Basingstoke Bulls - 06.02.16

21-18 Win

The game had a poor start and were quite quickly ended up three goals down. We haven't been so badly behind in matches for a while so it came as a surprise, but we switched it up a gear and focused on making good scoring opportunities.

The Basingstoke girl runner-heavy tactics meant defence got a good workout and our communication was key. Plus, tall boys dropping from the post meant frequent feeds and tricky times for our boys under the post. Once we tightened our defence, our attacks started to pay off. Ruth's long shot from the side was finding the mark and Nick scored so frequently it is a wonder he can keep count. Dave's classic unstoppable long shot found its mark. We came back and took a narrow lead into half-time.

Unfortunately, Basingstoke's repetitive game plan was as effective as it was annoying, and they kept in contention and just after half-time pulled back to level the score 10 - 10. Dan scored key shots, including a couple of fast-paced runners, keeping the morale up and reinstating our lead. Becca and Alice demoed beautifully how to defend as a pair. Amy scored a stunning shot in the second half and then tirelessly worked the post. The odd penalty sunk with style from James and Nick helped us keep ahead.

Just before the end Basingstoke came back to within one goal and, even though we were trying to slow things down and play out to victory, scoring goals was the best way to keep calm. We edged away to a final score 21 - 18 which shows impressive scoring from both sides. Well played everyone!

MVP - Nick, for a fine performance and scoring goals at crucial points in the game.

Scorers - Nick (8), Dan (3), James (3), Ruth (3), Dave (2), Gaz, Amy

Match Report: Back To Winning Ways Against Horfield

Oxford City vs Horfield - 16.01.16

22-10 Win

The match started with a fast and beautiful should-have-been runner from Becca within moments of the whistle. We soon got the first goal, but then the opposition sunk a penalty (that Dan, perhaps rightly, insists was not a penalty). 

After that, first-half highlights include: a throw-off where James won the ball using the speed to be able to pass to himself; the ref (Pete Sage) doing a Matrix-style lean back to avoid a cross court pass; Catherine adapting successfully to the novelty of being marked by someone taller; and stunning long shots from Ruth, Dan and Dave.

The half ended with a healthy lead but there were points when we had passed the ball out of play, at least once we were timed out in attack and we were often shooting from the wrong opportunities leading to short attacks. Frank reminded us to use what we had been training and we tried out a new double sub with a full division of girls switching for the new half. 

Goals were spread across the squad and those that weren't scored got us valuable resets to attack further. James used his pace and quick thinking to sink a couple of fast close goals. The match also included the regional debut for Ian and in the second half, not content with simply being on pitch making space and passing well, he also scored a lovely long shot. When Ian was off pitch, he also distracted Dan possibly to help give the crowd some slapstick comedy.

There was a period of play where both teams exchanged tit-for-tat penalties and, once we were all bored of that, our long shots came back out the bag to get our score above 20 goals. At the very end of the match notably Gaz did just run straight into a stationary girl. Perhaps the lack of sleep is how he can still questions how she got there but, if he can captain the side and score four while barely awake, then we are all impressed.

An important point to make is how Becca richly deserves player of the match for her tireless efforts to support, defend and make the best of every opportunity. She worked hard for the whole team throughout the match but the goal she scored was an individual masterpiece. Essentially she had a short shot that bounced long over the head of her giant marker. She outran this marker, got around her, claimed the ball and shot again... now from a long way out and scored brilliantly. Epic Becca!

Everyone played well and there were so many goals it is impossible to remember them all. I hope you all enjoyed the match because we get to play Horfield again in a fortnight!

MVP - Becca Brennan

Scorers - James (5), Dave (4), Gaz (4), Dan (3), Ruth (2), Becca, Alice, Amy, Ian

Match Report: Loss For City In Nail-Biting Bristol Match

Oxford City vs Bristol City - 12.12.15
16-18 Loss

The Christmas festivities were definitely taking their toll (at least in my case!) and that 11.15am start seemed much earlier than usual. We started slowly but our winning streak gave us confidence that we would come through. 

However, it seemed like we went three goals down from the start and the Bristol height was causing problems. Our one-shot attacks were not sinking and, 20 minutes in, we were in trouble.

Then Ruth rallied and scored two goals in quick session off brilliantly-shaped attacks. Dave and Gaz found another two so the half ended with us one goal up. Unfortunately, Dan's tactic of assuming you are a goal down was much more accurate for that period of play than the Gaz 'I am sure we are winning by more than that' response to the half-time scoreline.

In the second half we continued our goal streak and went two ahead. Dave was doing a great job marking Bristol City's basketballer, and there were two occasions where we timed out their attack. Niall and Catherine frequently leapt to claim collects that looked to be going into enemy hands and Alice evaded her marker for a smart goal. 

Unfortunately, we were hampered by some overly strict/unpredictable calls on blocking. Amy and Gaz probably saw the worst of this and it did have quite a detrimental affect on our game. It is very rare that you see Gaz request subbing so this game is memorable for at least that reason alone. Although it seemed fairly even between the two teams, Bristol were more clinical. They pulled away by two goals and controlled the final quarter to win the game. Darn!

It was quite a comedown but nothing a good montage of training won't fix. 

MVP - Dave, for tremendous efforts in defence marking a goal machine, and his usual five goals.

Scorers - Dave (5), Nick (3), Gaz (3), Ruth (3), Niall, Alice

- Match report by Jo

Match Report: City 2 Dominates In 26-3 Win

City 2 vs Reading 1 - 06.12.15

26-3 Win

Despite having a slightly depleted roster due to the double header in Cardiff, City 2 seemed determined to show that this would have no impact on the games final outcome. 

No slow starts this Sunday with David Sinclair scoring the first goal within 30 seconds of the game starting, and following it up a minute later with his second. The goals flowed for the rest of the half without Reading having an answer in either their defence or their own goal scoring ability. The half-time score was 16-1, and their one goal looked pretty well defended by Fi. 

Sadly, after the half-time break our heads went down a little and Reading scored two quick goals in succession. Spurred on by this lapse, City 2 stepped up their front defence and shut down any further attacks for the rest of the match. The whole team excelled at pressuring party balls out of attack resulting in a lot of turn overs and a very frustrated Reading. 

The goals started to flow again from both set pieces and in open play with a number of superb long shots going in. By the end of the match there were just too many goals to even hope highlighting the 'good' ones, but a special highlight was Theo bagging a none-too-shabby eight goals. Well done! It was as impressive to watch as it was easy to coach. A great display by the entire team.

MVP - Theo, though Taissa and Becca Bleeze both deserve a special mention for completely shutting down their best player 

- Match report by Jim

Match Reports: City Gets Scrappy Double Win In Wales

Oxford City vs Cardiff Raptors 06.12.15

17-14 Win

In the car on the way over we had played the classic pre-match fun guess-the-divisions game (it is a long drive!). There was some debate about what would happen but little did any of us know the Ruth Express had a fun plan to raise Frank's blood pressure. Her car's voice of reason (Claire) was over-ruled and they happily headed to the House of Sport and got kitted up. Thankfully, they realised and hot-footed it to the correct Cardiff Uni Sports Hall moments before the throw-off so we narrowly avoided playing short despite having 12 players in Cardiff.

Anyway, to the match...

We started strongly, quickly scoring the first three goals but the Raptors stayed in the fight. Looking at the other results this first match was supposed to be the easier fixture but you wouldn't have known it. Although we had the lead throughout, we didn't take control of the match as we should have done. The play was scrappy and the game had the most footballs I have ever witnessed.

Frank was clear about his disappointment at our first half. We gifted the Raptors penalties and free passes keeping them in the game. We all had penalties called against us. Dan supposedly contacted his marker with his whole body (impressive) and Claire over-enthusiastically ran down a free player at the post (I think that one was a foul). Two of our ideal goals of the back turned out to be off the court so tactics had to change.

Thankfully, Ruth's amazing long shots and brilliantly-timed runner settled the ship. This along with great defence made her the obvious choice for player of the match. Well done Ruth - you played brilliantly!

James defended a Raptor would-be goal (a leaning back veer that would have been their best goal of the game). Alice took defending to extremes, not afraid to take the fall to demonstrate being run into the feed.

Overall, the match alternated between quality and error. As an example, one moment James won and sunk a penalty, then mere moments later he conceded a penalty the other end. We won but it didn't feel like the solid victory we can produce so we knew had more work to do in the next match.

MVP - Ruth
Scorers - Ruth (5), Nick (4), James (3), Dave (3), Niall, Gaz

Oxford City vs Cardiff University - 06.12.15

14-8 Win

Dave was only on for the first 16 minutes but we had a lot to fix from the previous match and the way he played really did help us to raise our game. We scored the first four goals and kept a three-goal cushion but we had to keep working hard as Uni never gave up. There were crowds looking in from the end of pitch window and I like to believe it was because the game looked so damn good!

In attack we had something approaching shape and in defence we were disruptive to the nippy Uni players plans. It was tough to make good opportunities and Cardiff Uni had brought a giant with them. Nick did a great job keeping him very quiet on the scoring front. 

There were some poor passes/catches but we chased and pressured, often flicking it back in to play. Dan 'the bullet' was back to his glorious intercepting ways and Amy had several narrowly-denied goals. Jo got an assist from defence on a lovely runner from Gaz "25 seconds is 24 seconds too long" Clarke. Niall provided some great feeds and was unlucky on some defended calls. Becca as usual owned the post as the needed and Claire used her experience to out-match Dutch opposition.

So it was fast and we worked hard for each other. Great work everyone! A deserved victory and hopefully winning the double makes the long journey worthwhile. Thanks to Frank for the epic commitment today (and always) plus for making us raise our game.

MVP - Dave
Scorers - James (3), Nick (3), Dan (3), Dave (2), Gaz (2), Alice

- Match reports by Jo

Match Report: City Secures One Win In Bristol Double

Oxford City vs Bristol Thunder 1 - 21.11.15

11-17 Loss

The thing I remember most about this match was the tension in those first five minutes. It was fast and we were prepared to give it all. We looked amazing with our full squad and coach. This was the most positive I have ever felt before/during a match against Thunder 1, who didn't provided the pantomime villain, and we knew that we could provide real competition on their home turf.

In the first half, Ruth and Catherine both blamed shots, and Alice got the goal we are all aiming for off the back. We timed out Thunder's attack several times with fierce defending, and Dave Ewing got a sweet long shot from the side of the court.

Tied 6-6 at half time but getting tired, the second half wasn't as beautiful. It was just a bit odd in places and our passing didn't quite match up with our ambition.

Dave Ewing had a free pass called against him which strangely stopped a Thunder goal counting. Dan's quick and lovely runner was disallowed because the shot clock had not been correctly primed. Thunder got ahead in the last quarter and slowed down their passing out of defense to a near standstill. Also, they very nearly scored an own goal with a defensive pass over the post. We lost in the end by six goals but had been in contention for the majority of the match.

So we will just have to wait until next year to beat Thunder 1! It is good to still have some aims still to conquer. MVP was Ruth for a great all round match. She took lots of nice long shots from the sides which didn't all drop today but often reset the shot clock leading to the next goal having time to be scored. Well played Ruth.

MVP - Ruth

Scorers - James (4), Dave Ewing (2), Dan (2), Alice, Amy, Ruth

Oxford City 1 vs Bristol City - 21.11.5

15 - 14 Win

After Dave Ewing had been consoled about the earlier loss, we knew we needed to be calm and in control to beat a fresh squad of players some of whom seemed much taller than is strictly necessary. Frank was definitely not having us heading home without a victory, and he got almost the same workout as the players on pitch with some intense pacing and coaching. 

No one would want to let Frank down and there were great defensive moves from Becca, Ruth and Gaz which saved us conceding at least three sunk shots form Bristol City. Gaz even went so far chasing a ball down that he almost leapt the separating wall between pitches. Niall also used his speed to recover balls which would otherwise have been lost to those pesky sidelines.

David Sinclair had his first taste of regionals and provided some great feeds while adjusting well to the tempo of the match. Most importantly in this match Gaz started scoring again - how we have been missing it! After being fouled on a runner and personally sinking the penalty, it seemed whatever had been lacking was now all better. He scored another five during the match to end up with a Dave-Ewing-trademark five.

James injured his ankle late in the first half but recovered enough to rejoin play in the dying minutes. The Bristol City boys did comment, "They must have something magic in those ice packs" but, as I imagine Dan would say, it is just "something magic about Oxford City". It was great to see that determination to come back on and help secure the win. 

The second half included a period of play when we went five goals up. Bristol City then crept back reducing our margin to just one goal. It took real discipline and control to change tactics to prolong passing out and attacks to secure victory. It was incredibly tense but in the end we did enough for that victory. Hopefully next time on our home turf, without having already played a match beforehand, we will make it look a much easier win.

Despite not scoring, Frank awarded Jo MVP for consistency (I do hope that was not about the scoresheet). He had stressed it was about making those opportunities for the team so lets say that's what I did.

Thanks to everyone for travelling and putting everything into the matches. Huge thanks to Frank who keeps us working that little bit harder. Great to see an excellent squad at an away fixture. Go Oxford City!

MVP - Jo

Scorers - Gaz (5), Dave Ewing (2), James (2), Alice (2), Dan, Niall, Ruth, Amy

- Match reports by Jo